Kraven the Hunter: watch first trailer for new Marvel movie - release date, cast and is it part of the MCU?

Kraven the Hunter is an upcoming film based on the Marvel Comics antihero and nemesis of Spider-Man. 

The character debuted in a 1964 Amazing Spider-Man comic but first appeared on the screen in the animated sequel Across the Spider-Verse which was released this month.

But, the character is due to appear on the big screen in the flesh later this year in the upcoming live-action origin story film Kraven the Hunter.

The violent movie will follow Kraven as he sets out to prove himself as the greatest hunter of all time by hunting the most dangerous game he can find - Spider-Man. This is everything you need to know about Kraven the Hunter:

Who is in the cast of Kraven the Hunter?

Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff, AKA Kraven, an anti-hero who sets out to prove he is the best hunter in the world. Taylor-Johnson previously played a masked hero in the Kick-Ass films, and has already appeared in the MCU before, starring as Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Quicksilver died at the end of the movie, and his role as Kraven the Hunter is not connected to that character.

Another former MCU star who has a major presence in Kraven the Hunter is Russell - he played Zeus in last year’s maligned Thor sequel, Love and Thunder, but in the upcoming film he plays Kraven’s father Nikolaï Kravinoff. 

Other cast members include: 

• Ariana DeBose as Calypso
• Christopher Abbott as The Foreigner
• Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich AKA The Rhino
• Fred Hechinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov
• Murat Seven as Ömer Aksoy
• Levi Miller in an unknown role

Is there a trailer for Kraven the Hunter?

Yes there is, and you can watch it right here:

Is Kraven the Hunter part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

You might be wondering why you’ve not heard much about Kraven the Hunter, as Marvel movies tend to get a lot of attention ahead of their release - but the film isn’t technically a part of the MCU.

Kraven the Hunter is produced by Columbia Pictures and distributed by Sony, whereas the films in the MCU franchise are produced by Marvel Studios. 

This may explain why recogniseable cast from the MCU movies will feature in this film, as there’s a disconnect between it and the MCU.

However, Sony and Marvel Studios movies have had crossover before - Spider-Man: No Way Home was a Sony project but revolved around Marvel Studios characters including Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. 

A complex deal between Sony (which owns the film rights to Spider-Man), and Marvel Studios allows the character to appear in both studio’s films. Sony also owns the rights to Kraven, another Marvel comics character and nemesis of Spider-Man, but it is unlikely that the character will appear in the MCU any time soon. 

When is the Kraven the Hunter release date?

Kraven the Hunter is set to be released in cinemas on Friday 6 October 2023. Because it is not an MCU film, it is unlikely to land on Disney+ after its cinematic run.